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You can’t sleep so you reach for that trusty companion, your sleeping pill, to help you rest. You think that this magic pill is going to help you fall asleep, help you sleep through the night like a baby and wake up refreshed. Not so fast. These pills may help you get drowsy but they don’t give you the normal kind of sleep your body is craving for. Let me tell you upfront that there is no magic pill that will help you sleep through the night, lose weight, get rid of your stress and not have any nasty side effects.
There are two kinds of sleeping pills: the ones you get require a prescription and the ones you get over-the-counter. Let’s talk about the prescribed sleeping pills first.
The most commonly used sleeping pills are benzodiazepines which include valium, klonipin, ativan and many others. They work by binding to benzodiazepine receptors on our nerve cell membranes. These drugs sedate us. They also act as anti-anxiety agents, muscle relaxants and create amnesia. These drugs give us a few extra minutes to an hour but generally around 10-20 minutes more sleep. The sleep they produce is not the same as normal sleep.
Newer drugs like ambient and sonata work similar to older benzodiazepines but they stimulate main benzodiazepine receptors so more selective than the older versions, but essentially the basic function is the same.
These are good at making you drowsy, making you feel like you are falling asleep. However, the sleep they produce is different than normal sleep. The sleep you get from these medicines is lighter and the amount of deep sleep you need for your body to do its thing varies from medicine to medicine. That’s why even after you’ve slept all night, you don’t feel as rested and sometimes foggy.
What else is going on with these sleeping pills that may not be so good for you? First, you can get addicted to them, both behaviorally and physically. You get addicted behaviorally because you get conditioned to thinking that you can’t sleep without these pills. An interesting study out of Detroit gave people hooked on these drugs for about 10 years the real sleeping pill and a fake one. The surprising result? People got addicted to the sleeping pill and the fake one equally because what mattered was not the ingredients in these pills but what your brain thought it needed. It just needed a “pill” and didn’t care what was in it. What does this mean? You don’t need a sleeping pill to condition your brain to sleep. If these study subjects can fall asleep just fine with a fake sleeping pill, so can you minus the pill, of course.
Although these may help you get drowsy and enter light sleep, they don’t last all night long. This means that you may wake up when it wears off and can’t go back to sleep. This is especially true for newer generation of sleeping pills like ambien which don’t last as long.
Another scary fact is that people can get addicted to these pills in matter of days to weeks whereas physically, it takes months of high dose sleeping pills to get hooked. The power of mind, literally, is a very powerful thing.
Another side effect of these pills is that if can make you die faster. Studies have shown that people who take sleeping pills and drive, operate machinery, especially elderly, have much higher incidence of accidental death. That’s why the label on the pill package tells you not to operate machinery when taking these medications. Duh?
In addition to building tolerance, addiction and withdrawal, these sleeping pills also reduce anxiety which can cause insomnia. They do have some useful benefits which can really heighten our need for these pills. They help relax muscle that can help you sleep. This muscle relaxation can relieve some of the aches and pains.
These pills also cause amnesia. Amnesia is sometimes a good thing. If we can’t remember, then we are less likely to get depressed about whatever ailed us. Who doesn’t want that from time to time? Another hook to get you dependent on these pills.
The over-the-counter sleeping pills may work for short periods of time. These include melatonin, antihistamines like Benadryl. However, they lose their effect if you use it for a long time.
So, how do we sleep without reaching for these sleeping pills? Believe in your body and use it the way it was supposed to be. Condition your brain to calm down and rest so you can go to sleep. This may involve having a bedtime routine outlined above that gets your brain to think that it is ready to sleep.
During the day, follow a healthy routine that’ll help you sleep. Experts recommend that you eat, followed by light exercise like walking even if it’s just around your office to help digest and keep your sugar level from spiking. Avoid eating large meals late in the evening and avoid stimulants like caffeine and nicotine close to your bedtime. Eat better and live better and you will sleep. You have to believe it and the power of your mind will put you to sleep.
Did you know that the lining of your gut only lasts a day and the cells in your brain are replaced every three days? You also get a new skin in two weeks? How? Your body works while you sleep to grow new cells, repair damaged ones, forms new memories so come morning, you can be reborn. So, think what happens if you don’t let yourself sleep enough! Old skin, old gut and old brain. Who wants that?
Therefore, sleep is essential for our health and for our overall well-being. Without it, we can concentrate, we can’t function properly. Insufficient sleep is associated with a number of diseases and medical conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity and depression. Getting enough sleep is essential for preventing these health problems.
A well rested body helps us focus better and work better and makes us happier. It is a key to all we want to accomplish. Therefore, get some sleep and you are well on your way to unlocking your full potential to be all you can be.
Jennie Yoon Buchanan M.D.
P.S. I look forward to answering your questions and reading your comments about sleeping pills. Send them directly to me at the address below:
DrYoon@PinkIsPowerful.com
